There was sort of a collective groan when the clueless among us (I plead vacation) found out that a third band would be playing at SPACE, given that the moderately sleepy concert wasn't even going to start until 10 pm on a Sunday night. Luckily, that groan turned into a “whoa, Bruce Springsteen” when An Evening With... started their set. The four-piece, who rarely play out and will hopefully be releasing an album someday soon, is fronted by Jeremy Alexander and also features Cult Maze’s Peet Chamberlain, Seekonk percussionist Jason Ingalls, and Satellite Lot's Aaron Hautala. Alexander has an emotive, quintessentially gravelly Americana voice, and his band’s subtle, full-bodied sound matches him wonderfully. More, please.

The Watson Twins, best known as the backing band of the much loved and hated (that’d be me) indie siren Jenny Lewis, offered a dreamy set of alt-country tunes that in some instances — particularly a cover of the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” — took on some shoegaze overtones. Or maybe that was just the haze everyone was in watching two really cute, really tall girls sing with really pretty voices.

The half-set of Magnolia Electric Co. I made it through was rock solid. Diminutive frontman Jason Molina’s lonely-dog wail was complimented by energetic (and jocular) backup, with Molina playing tons of unfamiliar songs because he’s written far too many for anyone to keep up with. And unlike that other prolific Americana hero we had in town a few weeks ago, this dude seems to have fun with it.

Work ethics You can file Jason Molina with the über-prolific. Magnolia Electric Co., "Lonesome Valley" (mp3)

Magnolia Electric Co. | Josephine Even though it arose in part from tragedy, Josephine , the latest from Jason Molina and his band Magnolia Electric Co., may be one of Molina's lightest releases.

Repackaged treasures Repackaging music in box-set format and in newer, more-deluxe versions is a marketing ploy that’s been around at least since the dawn of the CD age.

Junior miss Former glam-rocker Jesse Malin’s 2003 solo debut not only offered proof that he could make it as a singer-songwriter — it was the best thing he’d put out.

Able bodies Could a deaf person really feel included in a jazz concert?

Listen up It’s the first year a long time where I truly felt like I didn’t listen to enough music.

Two for the road Most music fans discovered the Watson Twins — 31-year-old identical sisters Leigh and Chandra — via their backing vocal appearance on Rabbit Fur Coat , the 2006 solo debut from Jenny Lewis.

Yule logs From $16 paperbacks to $120 collector’s items, we’ve come up with a range of selections that should cover everyone on your list — from former classics majors and music fans to future art critics and lovers of high-fashion soft-core.

Guest lists What small, private lists like this remind us is that big, honking institutional lists are largely fictions, mirages of a consensus that no longer exists, if it ever really did in the first place.

Happy endings The end is nigh! And I’m not talking about the mortgage market.

TEN YEARS, A WAVE | September 26, 2014 As the festival has evolved, examples of Fowlie’s preferred breed of film—once a small niche of the documentary universe—have become a lot more common, a lot more variegated, and a lot more accomplished.

GIRLS (AND BOYS) ON FILM | July 11, 2014 The Maine International Film Festival, now in its 17th year in Waterville, remains one of the region’s more ambitious cultural institutions, less bound by a singular ambition than a desire to convey the breadth and depth of cinema’s past and present. (This, and a healthy dose of music and human-interest documentaries.) On that account, MIFF ’14 is an impressive achievement, offering area filmgoers its best program in years. With so much to survey, let’s make haste with the recommendations. (Particularly emphatic suggestions are marked in bold print.)

AMERICAN VALUES | June 11, 2014 The Immigrant seamlessly folds elements of New York history and the American promise into a story about the varieties of captivity and loyalty.

CHARACTER IS POLITICAL | April 10, 2014 Kelly Reichardt, one of the most admired and resourceful voices in American independent cinema, appears at the Portland Museum of Art Friday night to participate in a weekend-long retrospective of her three most recent films.

LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX | April 09, 2014 Throughout its two volumes and four hours of explicit sexuality, masochism, philosophical debate, and self-analysis, Nymphomaniac remains the steadfast vision of a director talking to himself, and assuming you’ll be interested enough in him to listen and pay close attention.